One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when to plant monarda by using the USDA zone info for Corning.

Planting Calendar for Monarda

Frost tolerance for monarda:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since monarda do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Corning is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant monarda and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your monarda may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Corning. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Corning may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Corning there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your monarda if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Corning

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Corning

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Corning.